1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a folding apparatus for use in the trunk or cargo area of an automobile and, more particularly, to an apparatus that is configurable in multiple orientations to organize and contain variable volumes of items to be placed into the automobile cargo area.
2. Background of the Invention
Automobile cargo areas come in many shapes and sizes from the trunk of a compact car to the open cargo area in the rear of a van. Typical utilization of these cargo areas involves the placement of items that are of a size, both individually and collectively, significantly smaller than the overall storage capacity of the respective cargo area. For example, a typical usage of the cargo area would be to store groceries that have been placed in bags at the grocery store to transport the groceries from the store to a residence. Grocery bags, as an example, are not generally stable and will frequently shift within the confines of the automobile cargo area, often spilling the contents to scatter over the entire cargo area. The effect can range from annoyance to damage of the items being transported.
Automobile manufacturers have provided a variety of hold down devices from straps to netting. While these devices can operate to restrain items, such as grocery bags against a wall of the cargo area, these devices do not provide the flexibility to customize in shape to the area or shape needed to conform to the collective group of the items being transported.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,584, (Schoeny) was issued on Jan. 12, 1988, teaches a pop-up organizer for use in the cargo area of automotive station wagons and hatchbacks. This device can be folded into a compact inoperative transport configuration against the floor of the trunk area, and then turned upright to open into an operative configuration forming compartments against the outer walls of the cargo area into which items can be placed to control the shifting and movement thereof. The Schoeny device operates in substantially the same manner as the tie down straps and netting to trap items against a wall of the cargo area. Furthermore, there is little flexibility to adapt the size and shape of the device to conform to the items being transported.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,972 (Frazier), issued on Jun. 18, 1996, provides a very similar device to the Schoeny device, except that the organizer is intended for use in the open rear cargo area of a pick-up truck. Like Schoeny, the Frazier device traps items against the outer walls of the cargo area, specifically the tail gate of the bed of the pick-up truck, and provides nearly identical function and operation to tie down straps and netting. Like Schoeny, Frazier provides only limited flexibility in adapting to the size and shape of the items being transported in the cargo area.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,865 (Schmidt) was issued on Nov. 24, 1998, and is directed to a movable apparatus for mounting in the trunk or cargo area of an automotive vehicle. This apparatus has a mounted member and a movable member interconnected by a scissor linkage that expands and contracts in conjunction with an actuator to push items places into the trunk rearwardly against the back wall of the trunk. As with the other prior art devices noted above, the Schmidt apparatus traps the items against the rear wall of the cargo area. While the position of the movable member is variable along essentially the entire length of the trunk, there is still only limited flexibility to adapt the size and shape of the area captured between the movable member and the rear wall of the cargo area to conform to the overall size and shape of the items being transported. Furthermore, a powered device like Schmidt would have limited utilization in a van or sport utility vehicle in which the rear wall of the cargo area is also the door through which access to the cargo area is gained.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,553 (Hespelt), was issued on Apr. 25, 2000, and is directed to an apparatus somewhat similar to the Schmidt device described above. Like Schmidt, the Hespelt apparatus has a fixed member and a movable member that expands toward the opposite wall of the cargo area. The Hespelt apparatus includes a locking device that fixes the position of the movable member by engaging a track installed into the floor of the cargo area. Hespelt provides an expandable area that can change in size, but has very little ability to conform to different shapes of items being placed into the trunk.
It would be desirable to provide an apparatus that can be utilized in the cargo areas of automobiles to adapt in size and shape to the items to be transported without requiring extensive installation and capital investment. It would also be desirable that such a flexible device be capable of removal from the cargo area or at least folded into a compact transport configuration that utilized a minimal amount of storage area in the trunk or cargo area.
It is an object of this invention to provide a foldable cargo containment apparatus that can be formed into multiple configurations in the cargo area of an automobile to restrain and organize items to be transported in the cargo area.
It is another object of this invention to provide a cargo containment apparatus that converts between a folded transport configuration into an opened operative configuration to provide a variably configurable orientation for holding items to be transported in an automotive cargo area.
It is a feature of this invention that the cargo containment apparatus can be configured into multiple shapes and sizes to conform to the volume and shape of the items to be transported.
It is an advantage of this invention that the cargo containment apparatus is sufficiently flexible to be configured to adapt in shape to a wide variety of items to be transported.
It is another feature of this invention that the walls of the cargo containment apparatus are adapted with bag hooks to be engaged with the plastic handles on conventional plastic grocery bags.
It is another advantage of this invention that the bag hooks on the walls of the cargo containment apparatus can restrain movement of plastic grocery bags within the cargo area.
It is still another feature of this invention that the walls of the cargo containment apparatus are provided with pins projecting downwardly to engage the carpet on the floors of automotive cargo areas to prevent the cargo containment apparatus from sliding over the floor of the automotive cargo area.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a cargo containment apparatus that is formed from a plurality of individual panels linked together to permit relative movement between the individual panels while maintaining a linked configuration.
It is yet another feature of this invention that the linked panels of the cargo containment apparatus can be pivoted relative to one another to provide a wide variety of sizes and shapes of the area contained within the linked panels.
It is yet another advantage of this invention that the linked panels can be folded into a compact shape for transport within the cargo area or removed for storage in a remote location.
It is still another advantage of this invention that the linked panels and links can be manufactured from recycled plastic or other suitable materials to provide sufficient rigidity when placed into an operative configuration to contain items placed within the confined area for transport.
It is a further feature of this invention to provide panel and link components that can be simply and easily assembled and utilized within the cargo area of an automobile.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a three panel cargo containment apparatus that has opposing connecting links offset to permit the three panels to be folded into a flat configuration for transport.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a multiple panel cargo containment apparatus having individual panels connected by links that provide a continuous linked hinge.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a cargo containment apparatus that is durable in construction, inexpensive of manufacture, carefree of maintenance, facile in assemblage, and simple and effective in use.
These and other objects, features and advantages are accomplished according to the instant invention by providing a cargo containment apparatus formed from a series of individual panels linked together to permit deployment in a variety of configurations for containing cargo items within a larger cargo area of an automotive vehicle. The linked panels of the cargo containment apparatus are pivotable relative to one another to permit substantial flexibility in the apparatus to attain a shape that corresponds to the items to be transported in the cargo area. The panels are can be formed with bag hooks that can be engaged with the handles of conventional plastic grocery bags and tote bags for effectively restraining movement thereof within the automotive cargo area. Pins on the bottom surfaces of the panels engage the carpet in the automotive cargo area to restrict the movement of the cargo containment apparatus within the automotive cargo area.